By Rita Dermody Collection Access Services Librarian
The King County Bar Association adopted its latest version of the Guidelines of Professional Courtesy in 1999. The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) adopted the Creed of Professionalism in 2001.
As far back as 1999, the bar associations have been incorporating the concepts of professionalism and civility into their continuing legal education programs. Since the adoption of the Creed of Professionalism, the Creed has been included in many CLE materials. In 1999 and 2005, the WSBA presented "Ethics, Professionalism and Civility: The Hard Questions." The 2000 Family Law Section Annual Meeting & Seminar presented "Civility and Professionalism in the Practice of Family Law." The 2002 Bridging the Gap Conference presented "Civility and Professionalism in the Courtroom" as did a pretrial preparation CLE in 2001.
Professionalism and civility concerns are not unique to the state of Washington. A quick check of the American Bar Association's Web site - http://www.abanet.org/cpr/profcodes.html - shows the many different ways state, county and city bar associations have addressed the issue. Local bar associations have written extensively about professionalism and civility. Journals and treatises also have published articles on the topic.
Other sources to consult include:
Geoffrey C. Hazard, The Law of Lawyering, 3rd ed., Aspen Publishers, ยค1.6.
Edward F. O'Connor, Intellectual Property Law and Litigation, 2nd ed., American Bar Association, 2003, ch. 31.
Peter A. Joy, A Professionalism Creed for Judges: Leading by Example, 52 S. Carolina L. Rev 667 (2001).
Allen K. Harris, Increasing Ethics, Professionalism and Civility: Key to Preserving the American Common Law and Adversarial Systems, 2005 Symposium Issue of the Professional Lawyer at 91.
Harry McCarthy, Proposed Creed of Professionalism, 54 Wash. St. Bar News, Nov. 2000 at 45.
Brent E. Dickson & Julia Bunton Jackson, Renewing Lawyer Civility, 28 Valparaiso Univ. L. Rev. 531 (1994). n
